1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to the field of shielding printed circuit board circuits and in particular to methods and apparatus for shielding circuits on printed circuit boards utilizing high-density interconnect technology.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Printed circuit boards can contain many separate circuits where each circuit is generally arranged at a separate location on the board. Inasmuch as some circuits emit radiation, shields have been employed to prevent the radiation from reaching the environment outside of the circuit board. Typically, in the prior art, the circuit shields comprise formed metal cans or metalized plastic cans which encompass the circuit when mounted to the circuit board.
The prior art metal or metalized shielding cans necessarily utilize space on the circuit board. Circuit board space is a valuable commodity in today's technology. Smaller circuit boards and/or additional circuitry can result by increasing the useful space on a circuit board. Thus, what is needed are methods and apparatus for shielding circuits on a printed circuit board which reduce or minimize the space used by the shielding on the circuit board.